Sainsbury sales up in fourth quarter

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The company said that its total sales for the period increased 5.1 per cent (excluding fuel). Sainsbury also said that it had surpassed its sales growth target of 2.5 billion, with 2.7 billion of sales growth achieved.

Justin King, chief executive, said: "We've delivered another good performance in the final quarter of the year with like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, up 4.1 per cent. Full year like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, grew by 3.9 per cent continuing our momentum of sales growth over three years. As announced in January 2008, we achieved our Making Sainsbury's Great Again (MSGA) sales growth target early in this quarter, three months ahead of plan. We've continued to grow and have now delivered 2.7 billion of sales growth since March 2005.

"We continue to see strong growth from non-food sales following the investment we've made in developing the range, establishing the supporting infrastructure and increasing the space dedicated to this part of our offer. Going forward, non-food has significant growth potential as we continue to implement our plans.

"During the quarter we opened a new store in Alnwick, extended our store at Bradford on Avon and refurbished a further 13 supermarkets. Within the convenience estate we opened eight new stores. We have identified 36 former Bells and Jackson's stores unsuitable for conversion to the Sainsbury's fascia and a sale process has commenced. This is expected to be completed early in 2008/09."

King also announced a new joint venture with British land, "Today we have also announced the investment of 273 million to create a 1.2 billion property Joint Venture ('JV') with British Land. This allows Sainsbury's shareholders to share in the significant value creation arising from the development opportunities across 38 Sainsbury's stores owned by the JV.

"The achievements we've made during our MSGA plan are significant and I am delighted with our progress. The market remains competitive but, as we enter our fourth year of growth, the improvements we have made to date position us well to meet the demands of what continues to be a challenging environment."